Gboko: The Catholic bishops of Nigeria have raised a collective voice of sorrow and alarm over the relentless violence targeting Christian communities, especially in the embattled Benue Valley. Amid mounting grief, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria has called on the faithful across the nation to engage in fasting and prayer in a heartfelt appeal for peace and healing.
Leading the call is Bishop William Amowe Avenya of the Diocese of Gboko, who described the suffering in Benue State as intolerable and deeply inhumane. “The cry of pain from Benue has become unbearable,” he said. “This land, once fertile and thriving, has for nearly two decades been turned into a theatre of death, displacement, and despair.”
According to Bishop Avenya, entire communities have been uprooted by continuous waves of unprovoked attacks, with thousands forced to flee their ancestral homes. In many cases, these displaced individuals now struggle to survive in overcrowded and under-resourced IDP camps, heavily reliant on the support of humanitarian organizations for food, shelter, and medicine.
“The people have lost everything homes, farmlands, their way of life,” the bishop lamented. “We do not seek conflict. We seek peace. But what we have received is silence from those who are supposed to protect us.”
The bishop sharply criticized government inaction, stating that repeated pleas for intervention have fallen on deaf ears. “We have cried out again and again. Still, the authorities remain indifferent,” he said, describing the failure to respond as both tragic and shameful.
Highlighting the human toll, Bishop Avenya pointed to a horrific attack just two weeks ago in Yelvatha, Benue State, where more than 200 people were brutally killed many of them Christian refugees who had sought shelter with the local Catholic mission. The atrocity, he said, underscores the urgent need for a meaningful response from both state and federal authorities.
The bishops are calling not only for spiritual solidarity but also for concrete action. “Fasting and prayer must go hand in hand with courage and truth. We need justice. We need peace. We need leaders who will listen and act,” Bishop Avenya emphasized.
Their appeal comes as Nigeria continues to face a growing security crisis marked by ethno-religious violence, banditry, and terrorism. For the Church and the people of Benue, the call to prayer is not just an act of faith it is a desperate plea for survival, for dignity, and for the restoration of peace in a land battered by bloodshed.